The classical music festival returns to the city
The Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival and the Ciutat de Clàssica festival arrive with a programme of forty concerts at twenty-six venues in Barcelona.
Are you lovers of classical music? Then you have a great date this March. Five hundred international artists and local talents await you, thanks to the return of the Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival (from 5 to 24 March), which celebrates its fifth edition, and the Ciutat de Clàssica festival (from 6 to 23 March), which offers the public twenty-three free concerts in different venues around the city.
The Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival presents the best national and international offerings on the stages of the three main institutions: the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Auditori. The festival offers a selection of the most outstanding performances in collaboration with Ibercamera, the Franz Schubert Philharmonia and the Conservatori del Liceu.
The Gran Teatre del Liceu offers The Messiah, by Handel, revisited by Mozart, conducted by Robert Wilson. The modernist building of the Palau de la Música Catalana presents seven different artistic proposals, inaugurated by the Franz Schubert Philharmonia, with works by Beethoven and Mozart, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. There will also be renowned names such as the pianist Anna Vinnitskaya, who will perform Franck, Skriabin, Widmann and Schumann, as well as Jordi Savall, who will conduct Bach's Passió segons Sant Joan.
You will have seven dates at the Auditori, a team that presents four world premieres by local creators. To begin with, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and Inon Barnatan on piano will perform Beethoven's sonatas for cello and piano. The Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) will offer three programmes with Augustin Hadelich, Fleur Barron and Denis Kozhukhin, conducted by Ludovic Morlot. The festival will close with Simfonia Gaudí, by Albert Guinovart, a proposal by the Banda Municipal de Barcelona, conducted by José Pascual-Vilaplana.
The free festival Ciutat de Clàssica presents a programme that will be distributed throughout all the districts of Barcelona. An itinerary of concerts awaits you in a variety of venues throughout the city, from historic and emblematic buildings to museums and other municipal facilities, which will become stages for young local talent.
The festival selects venues related to Barcelona events or anniversaries, and this year, to mark the celebration of the Picasso Year and the 200th anniversary of Passeig de Gràcia, concerts will be held at the Picasso Museum, the Miró Foundation and the Casa Batlló. In addition to spaces such as the Gabriel García Márquez Library, chosen as the best library in the world.
This year, three artistic lines of concerts have been organised. In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Arnold Schönberg, you can discover the composer's creations during his stay in Barcelona, with masterpieces from Cambrils, as well as his admiration for classics such as Brahms and Strauss. As well as his influence on the Catalan composers Joaquim Homs and Robert Gerhard.
In Tres universos, tres dones you can discover the essential works of Dora Pejacevic, Marie Jaëll and Amy Beach, three great female composers, largely unknown to the general public, who have a very singular voice and a recognisable language.
Finally, Made in Barcelona will include concerts with repertoires inspired by, created or performed in the city, showing the history of visits and stays of great musicians and composers in Barcelona.
In addition, the festival offers special programmes such as recitals by organists Jaime González-Sierra and Berenguer Montserrat, creating a tour of the church of Sant Felip Neri and the Basilica of the Saints Martyrs Sant Just i Pastor.
Take the opportunity to enjoy classical music and culture in Barcelona throughout the month of March. The times vary according to the concerts, as does the ticket price. Tickets for the free festival Ciutat de Clàssica are sold out for the concerts from 6 to 16 March. Tickets for the concerts from 17 to 23 March can be booked on 8 March, from 10 a.m. on the Barcelona Obertura website. If you want to book your tickets for the Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival, click on the link.